Jolliet and Marquette: A New History of the 1673 Expedition by Mark Walczynski (review)

Reviewed by: Jolliet and Marquette: A New History of the 1673 Expedition by Mark Walczynski Patrick J. Jung Mark Walczynski, Jolliet and Marquette: A New History of the 1673 Expedition. Champaign, IL: 3 Fields Books, 2023. 288 pp. 24. 95 (paper). The 350th anniversary of the expedition to the Mississippi River by Louis Jolliet and the Rev. Jacques Marquette, S. J. , has resulted in a spate of commemorations, tributes, and publications to raise public awareness of this historical event. Mark Walczynski's monograph stands as one of the most impressive scholarly assessments in this regard, and it will be the standard historical work on the subject for the foreseeable future. Walczynski presents many novel arguments that revise what historians thought they once knew about the expedition. The book's title, which places Jolliet's name first, is indicative of Walczynski's efforts to change our understanding since Jolliet was the expedition's leader, and thus, his surname is given pride of place. The public perception of Marquette as the key figure rests on the fact that Jolliet's map and journal were lost to history, while the narrative of Marquette (who served as the expedition's chaplain) stands as the principal documentary record of the events that transpired. Jolliet's role is elevated in Walczynski's narrative to the status it rightly deserves. Walczynski corrects many other errors that have crept into our understanding of the Jolliet-Marquette expedition over the past century and more. For example, he convincingly argues that Simon F. Daumont, Sieur de St. Lusson, a subordinate of the intendant, Jean Talon, did not discuss the possibilities of an expedition with the two men in 1671 while at Sault Ste. Marie despite the earlier speculations of historian Raphael Hamilton more than fifty years ago. Walczynski asserts "there is no evidence at all that Jolliet and Marquette met with St. Lusson to discuss a voyage to the Mississippi at this time, none. Hamilton's story is, indeed, intriguing, but it lacks support from period documents. " (60) Equally important is Walczynski's observation that Jesuit superiors often edited the reports they received from their subordinates. In the case of Marquette's report on the expedition, his superior, Claude Dablon, likely added the last two sentences that describe the baptism of a Native child to enhance the spiritual impact of the report for readers back in France. Walczynski's volume is valuable for the errors it corrects and the nuances in the primary sources that it uncovers, but the book's real value concerns the Native people whom Jolliet and Marquette encountered during the 1673 expedition. This is a welcome addition to any study of End Page 244 the early French period in the Middle West, and Walczynski has done an exemplary job in this regard. Of note is his examination of the Illinois Indians, whose name in their own language is Inohka. The word "Illinois, " it turns out, is an exonym derived originally from the Ojibwa and Odawa people. Indeed, Walczynski incorporates a wealth of information about the Inohka and other Native groups that are culled from documentary sources, archaeological information, and linguistics. From these various data sets, Walczynski provides a detailed and updated sketch of the Inohka people. He also provides an excellent summary of their history after the expedition as they slowly moved from north-central Illinois, to the Mississippi Valley, and finally to the Indian Territory (present-day Oklahoma). The many gaps and omissions in the official documents of the Jolliet-Marquette expedition have long vexed historians. Walczynski deftly bridges these many silences by citing the works of later French explorers who followed in the footsteps of Jolliet and Marquette. The route the two men travelled is thoroughly described and examined, as are the many alterations made over the last three centuries to the various water courses that composed their route. One excellent example concerns Jolliet's proposed development of a canal linking the Chicago and Des Plaines Rivers at the Chicago Portage. Walczynski convincingly debunks the claims of earlier historians who argued that the Illinois and Michigan Canal, completed in 1848, was the brainchild of Jolliet. Instead, he credits Henry Rowe Schoolcraft with the. . .